of mott haven



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIoE.

E. A. EoY'T, or MoTT HAVEN7 NEW YORK.

STAMP-MOISTENER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 58,420, dated October t2, 1856.

To all whom it may concern.: Y

Be it .known that l, H. A. HOYT, of Mott Haven, county ot' Westchester, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Stamp-Moisteners; and I do hereby declare that the following is at'ull,clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, ret'erenee being had to the accompan ving drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a side view of my improved stampmoistener, part heilig broken away to show the construction, and showing, in red lines, the position of the forward end ot' the cover when closed. Fig. 2 is a front-end view of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

My invention has for its object to furnish an improved apparatus for moistening internalreveuue or postage stamps preparatory to attaching them to their places; and it consists of a starnpmoistener formed by combining a spring and cover with a sponge and spongecup, as hereinafter more fully described.

A is the sponge-cup, which, in the drawings, is represented as being rectangular in form, with the corners rounded oft` 5 but the said cup may be Ina-de in any desired or convenient form, the main consideration being that the cup may be so large as to contain a sponge. large enough to meisten the larger varieties of stamps at one application. This cup A is made ot' castiron and lined with porcelain, or of some other material that will not be rusted or affected by moisture. To the rear end of the cup Agis attached one end of the spring'B, the other end ot' which is attached to the end of the cover G. The lower side ot' this cover C is made in such aform as to fit into the mouth of the cup A and press upon the upper side of the sponge D. `The sponge D is cut into such a shape that it will tit into the cup A, as shown in Fig. l.

In using the apparatus the sponge is moistened so that it will dampen or wet the stamp sufficiently to cause it to adhere to the surface to which it may be applied; but the sponge D should not be so wet as to Wash off the mucilage from the stamp. The stamp is then laid upon the sponge, and the cover brought down upon the stamp, pressing it down upon the sponge D. The stamp is then removed from the sponge and applied to the manuscript or envelope in the ordina-ry manner. The stamps when ,moistened in this. manner are much more liable to adhere than when mois-v tened in the ordinary manner, as the mucila ge will not be so liable to be rubbed ont.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Let' ters Patent- An improved stamp-moistener formed by 'combining the spring B and cover C, constructed and arranged as described, with the sponge D and sponge-cup A, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

HENRY A. HOYT.

Witnesses:

W1 F. MCNAMARA. J AMES T. GRAHAM. 

